


A Resonance of Emerald

by andabatae



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Enemies to Lovers, F/M, Fluff, Hummingbirds, Taxidermy, ornithology
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-01
Updated: 2020-08-02
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:01:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,664
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25655572
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/andabatae/pseuds/andabatae
Summary: Ornithology professor Rey loves hummingbirds, and the Sedona Hummingbird Festival is one of the highlights of her year. One morning she visits the "Birds and Blooms" garden, eager to enjoy nature while surrounded by her favorite birds.Enter Ben Solo: massive grump, vocally unenthusiastic nature-hater... and hummingbird taxidermist.
Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 14
Kudos: 183
Collections: A Picture is worth 1000 Words - PL Summer Exchange





	A Resonance of Emerald

**Author's Note:**

> This is a little bit of fluff for Nancy! You do so much for the fandom, and you deserve all the gift fics in the world. I saw your moodboard and couldn't resist.
> 
> Disclaimer: I am not an ornithologist. All my knowledge in this fic comes from watching Anna's and Rufous hummingbirds at my house, some hasty Googling, and an interesting talk I went to a few years ago about hummingbird taxidermy. If I am wrong about something ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

Rey’s heart lifted as she entered the garden. Flowers bloomed everywhere she looked, and the air hummed with the sound of tiny wings whirring away.

As an ornithologist specializing in hummingbirds, the Sedona Hummingbird Festival was Rey’s favorite event every year. Rather than writing dry papers or reading the research of other scholars, as she did most of the year as an assistant professor, Rey got the chance to be with the hummers in person. Sure, she had her notebook, but the point of the festival was  _ wonder. _ Five to seven different species of hummingbirds visited Sedona every August, delighting in the cooler temperatures of the high elevation city, and Rey would never get tired of watching them.

She grinned as she watched the birds flit around the rich landscape. This garden was catered to hummingbird enthusiasts—and hummingbirds, obviously—and she’d had to purchase a ticket to get into the “Birds and Blooms” self-guided tour. An Anna’s hummingbird flitted around her head, red throat gleaming in the afternoon light, and Rey giggled.

“You’re fine,” she said softly. “I’m not a threat.”

Contrary to popular knowledge, hummingbirds were extremely aggressive towards each other and protective of sources of nectar. During mating season, the male hummingbirds stabbed each other in the throat with their beaks for the right to mate. They were tiny, territorial, cute-as-hell monsters, and Rey loved them to pieces.

“This is a waste of time.”

The low male grumble made the hairs on the back of Rey’s neck stand up. His voice resonated with something primal in her subconscious, and she shivered as she turned to see who was uttering such blasphemy in “Birds and Blooms.”

Two very tall people stood at the entrance to the garden—a gorgeous blonde and the most attractive man Rey had ever seen. He had dark hair, full lips, broad shoulders… and was scowling like this was the worst day of his life. Add in the all-black attire, and he stood in jarring contrast to the greenery and blossoms all around.

“Come on,” the blonde said. “Surely you can stand to see a few living birds.”

Rey’s eyes widened.

“I’m an artist, Gwen,” the man said. “I don’t just sit around admiring nature.”

“No, you wait until nature gets hit by a truck, then take it home and play with the corpse.” Gwen rolled her eyes. “Come on, Ben. You can spend one morning admiring the birds with me.”

“You’re only here because Hux is having a crisis.”

“He’s not having a crisis,” Gwen said. “His therapist encouraged him to seek out positive, life-affirming hobbies to help undo the negative programming of his childhood.”

Ben snorted. “Sounds like a crisis to me.”

Rey stood still beside a small scarlet bottlebrush tree, so distracted by the conversation she nearly missed the bright streak of a pink-throated Calliope hummingbird dive-bombing a competitor for access to the flowers. She switched her attention to the aerial battle, grinning as the birds chased each other around the tree. The victorious Calliope finally settled on a branch and began chirping a territorial call.

“Jesus!”

Rey jumped at the exclamation and spun around. While she’d been watching the hummers, Ben and Gwen had turned a corner and nearly stumbled over her.

Ben’s startled expression turned into a scowl. “Why are you hiding in the bushes?”

“What?” Rey blinked at him, perplexed, then looked around and realized she was, indeed, nearly hidden in the cluster of trees. “I’m watching the hummingbirds,” she said, feeling annoyed that this big grump was giving her grief. “You should try it.”

“See?” Gwen asked, elbowing Ben in the ribs. “Everyone else knows how to admire nature.”

“I’m not some amateur bird nerd,” Ben said in a lofty tone that put Rey’s hackles up. “I’m—”

“An artist,” Gwen finished. “Well, maybe you’ll get lucky. Maybe one of them will drop dead, and you can scoop it up.”

This was the third reference to Ben enjoying dead birds, and Rey was getting concerned. “Hold on,” she said, raising a hand. “First off, I am not an amateur anything. I’m a professor at Chandrila University, and I wrote an entire dissertation on hummingbirds.”

Ben eyed her. “They’re small, shiny, and eat way too much sugar. What else could someone possibly have to say about them?"

“Secondly,” Rey said, ignoring the provocation, “why are you talking about dead hummingbirds?”

Gwen snorted. “This should be good.”

Ben stepped in closer, and Rey had to tip her chin up to maintain eye contact. Lord, he was large. Her heart raced, and she couldn’t tell how much was annoyance and how much was attraction. Ben Solo might be a gloomy, condescending “artist” who hated hummingbirds, but  _ God _ he was hot.

“I’m a taxidermist,” Ben said. “I specialize in birds, and hummingbirds are the most challenging to work on, so I figured I might as well try it out.”

Rey’s jaw dropped. There was an interesting history of hummingbird taxidermy, but reading about it and facing the grim specter of a man who _ preferred _ animals to be dead were two different things. What was she supposed to say? “Are the birds ethically sourced?” was the first question that came to mind.

Ben rolled his eyes. “No, I’m a hummingbird poacher. I stalk through bird exhibitions with a BB gun, waiting to take one out.”

Rey pointed at him sternly. “That’s probably your idea of a joke, but everyone knows there are ethical issues with the taxidermy industry.” While there was a movement to only work with animals who had died of natural causes—or ended up as roadkill—there had been too many cases of animals slaughtered simply because their heads would look nice mounted on someone’s wall. Granted, hummingbird heads wouldn’t look particularly impressive on a wall, but still. If this man had any plans to commit violence against Rey’s beloved birds, he would feel her wrath.

“Everyone?” he asked, eyebrows rising. “Or just sanctimonious amateur—I’m sorry, I mean  _ professional _ —bird nerds?”

The attraction had shifted mostly to annoyance by this point. “Look,” Rey said, planting her hands on her hips. “Hummingbirds are the best creatures in the whole world, and their habitat is shifting every year due to climate change. We need to protect them while they’re alive, not just play with them when they’re dead. So I would appreciate it if you treated this exhibition with the respect it deserves. And if you have any plans to harm the hummingbirds, I am fully capable of taking you out.”

Ben scoffed. “Oh, I’d love to see that. And I’m not playing.” His voice was growing heated. “Taxidermy is an art form, and I have a very large commission coming up, if you must know.”

“So you decided to come to the Sedona Hummingbird Festival just to stomp around the garden, loudly wishing all the birds were dead?” Rey had no idea how things had escalated this quickly, but disparaging comments about her research or hummingbirds always set her off.

“I wasn’t  _ loud _ —”

“Armie!” Gwen cried, rushing away from them. “Thank God you’re back. It’s been five minutes, and Ben’s already made an enemy.”

Rey turned to see a tall, redheaded man shake his head sadly. “He should probably address the negative programming of his childhood so he can form healthier connections,” he said. “Shall we get out of here, my dove?” He offered his arm to Gwen.

“Please.” Gwen glared at Ben. “Come find us when you’re done with this ludicrous pissing contest.” Then the two walked away down the path, heads bent close together.

When Rey turned back to Ben, she noticed his cheeks and the tips of his ears were pink. “I hate it when Hux suggests that,” he grumbled, then ran a hand through his messy dark hair. “Negative programming, my ass.”

“Do you really have enemies?” Rey asked, diverted by the thought. “I’ve never had one, so I suppose you’ll be my first.”

Ben winced. “I don’t want to be your enemy. I just want—”

“To be condescending to ‘bird nerds?’”

“You don’t like being called a bird nerd?” Ben asked. At Rey’s narrow-eyed glare, he tilted his head. “All right, I acknowledge that is maybe not the most flattering thing to call a professor of ornithology.”

The same Calliope from earlier buzzed up again, inspecting the newer, larger, grumpier intruder in her space. Rey’s expression softened as she watched the tiny bird—not even as long as Ben’s finger—flit around him. When the bird darted off, she returned her attention to Ben.

He was looking at her intently. “You really do love them, don’t you?”

She laughed. “I spent four years studying them for my PhD. What do you think?”

He sighed. “I’m sorry I was so rude. To be honest…” He ran his hand through his hair again, looking embarrassed. “I was giving Gwen grief because my allergies are going haywire, and I didn’t even get the chance to grab coffee before she dragged me out here.”

Rey winced. She could identify with that feeling. “Well, then,” she said. “If you’re not here to murder hummingbirds…”

“I’m really not.” His lips quirked in a smile. “My animals are all ethically sourced, I promise you.”

Rey nodded. “Good. Then I have a proposition.”

His ears were still pink. Maybe he was starting to sunburn—he was awfully pale. “Uhh…” he said. “What kind of proposition?”

“I’ll show you where the coffee stand is, and in return, you’ll let me teach you all about hummingbirds. If you insist on rigging them up in some ludicrous art exhibit, the very least you can do is approach them with respect.”

Ben bit his lower lip, eyeing her with a mix of interest and trepidation. “All right,” he said. “Coffee, then hummingbird education. But then I get to tell you about my project, too.”

Rey stuck out her hand. “Deal.”

His hand wrapped around hers, big and warm. “Deal,” he agreed.


End file.
